In the replication of nanostructures, use is often made of a stamp, which hot embosses a pattern into a plate coated with a suitable polymer, such as a thermoplastic. It is necessary to provide an antisticking boundary surface between the patterned stamp and the polymer to prevent thermoplastic from getting stuck to and contaminating the surface of the stamp when the stamp is released from the coated plate after embossing. Also the pattern replicated on the plate can be damaged by such sticking. For successful embossing, the stamp must thus be chemically and mechanically stable and have a low tendency to stick to polymers.
In Microelectronic Engineering 35 (1997) 381–384, R. W. Jaszewski et al. disclose that the surface of the stamp can be covered with an ultra-thin, antisticking layer of PTFE. The layer is precipitated by means of plasma polymerization or ion sputtering from a plasma. According to Jaszewski et al., the quality of the film deteriorates in the embossing. Obviously, the film is not sufficiently stable.